The effects of Irma are expected to extend as far as Middle Tennessee in the form of wind and rain, though current forecasts show wind of just 10 to 20 miles per hour in the Nashville area, Rose said, as opposed to the 180-mile per hour winds that rolled past Puerto Rico earlier Thursday.

"By the time it gets up here, it'll just be a blob of moisture or wind," Rose said. "The idea of us getting slammed by a tropical storm is not going to happen here."

Governors in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina declared states of emergency this week in preparation for Hurricane Irma and the potential catastrophic damage it could bring to parts of the Southeast.

Will Nashville see more flooding due to Irma?

A Costco worker sweeps under the empty shelves where the store usually holds its selection of bottled water, which sold out before noon on Tuesday. Costco representatives said they would have more supplies shipped to the store in the coming days before Hurricane Irma hits the state of Florida.
(Photo: Joe Rondone/Democrat)

In Nashville, where more than 50 people were evacuated from their homes last Thursday night due to flooding from Tropical Depression Harvey, meteorologists still haven't said whether flooding will pose another issue this time around.

"It's just too early to start talking about that now," Rose said.

The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center.(Photo: National Hurricane Center)

At this point, the National Weather Service predicts that from 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, the northern Middle Tennessee area could receive more than an inch of rain.

There's still time for the forecast — and predicted path of Hurricane Irma — to change over the next five days, Rose said.

"It's still a long way off, and the projected path is going to change at least a little between now and then," he said.

CLOSE

NASA on Friday released footage of hurricanes Jose and Irma as they appear from the International Space Station. (Sept. 9)
AP

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com . Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.